In this series of articles, we take a close look at various firefighting activities, and show how to encourage optimal performance and unprecedented protection of your bones and soft tissues under emergency conditions. By taking this systematic approach, you can boost both safety and your job performance on the fire-ground.
What could be more important at any fire operation than the search for life? While the fire is still raging out of control, it is sometimes necessary to conduct a simultaneous interior search. Performing a systematic primary search in or above an area where the fire has yet to be declared under control is probably the most dangerous thing a firefighter will ever do.
This exceptionally difficult job is usually left to the first to arrive ladder company, and could be carried out by any unit that happens to be on the scene. There are volumes written on various search techniques, but the bulk of any good search takes place down on the floor, where cooler air, as well as possible trapped occupants may be found.
Moving through a blackened, unfamiliar apartment on your hands and knees in full protective gear and breathing apparatus could test the stamina of the most conditioned individual, but what happens when your search produces an unconscious 200-pound person that needs to be removed forthwith? We come to the second aspect of search and rescue, removal operations and upper body strength.
Down on all fours, supporting your body-weight with your arms
